JP2605179Y2 - Angle rotor and tube holding plate for centrifuge - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an angle rotor for a centrifuge and a tube holding plate, and more particularly to a reduction in the moment of inertia of the rotor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional centrifuge rotor has a rotor of 15 centimeters.
In the case of an angle rotor used at about 000 rpm, FIG.
(See FIG. 2 of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-16204) or a rotor shown in FIG. 8B (FIG. 2 of Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-40112), which is generally cut from a block made of aluminum alloy or the like. The sample tube is cut into a truncated cone shape, and is provided with a sample tube hole for inserting the sample tube at a certain angle, for example, 45 degrees with respect to the rotation axis.

[0003] A tube containing a sample, generally called a microtube, is held at the open end of a tube insertion hole of a rotor. There are two ways to hold the sample tube, one to support the tube at the bottom of the rotor tube hole, and the other to hook the lip of the tube to the open end of the rotor hole. There is. In the latter case, there is a case where the tube is directly hooked or a case where a tube is housed in a flanged adapter.

[0004] Recently, a micro tube is DN.
A, RNA, etc. have been widely used, and centrifugation of a large number of samples has required a shorter acceleration and deceleration of a centrifuge. Particularly, when an experiment using an enzyme is performed, the activity of the enzyme decreases with the passage of time. Therefore, whether or not the centrifugal operation can be performed in a short time is a condition that determines the success of the experiment.

[0005]

In order to meet this demand, it is necessary to strengthen the motor of the centrifugal separator or to reduce the inertia moment of the rotor, which is the load on the motor. As one of means for solving this problem, FIG.
A press-formed rotor as shown in FIG. Since the plate is press-formed, the moment of inertia is extremely small. However, an expensive press die is required to manufacture this rotor.

[0006] Further, when the user requests to change the size of the tube or increase the number of tubes that can be processed by one centrifugal operation, the size of the rotor cannot be easily changed, so that a new metal is required. There is a disadvantage that the mold must be manufactured. Therefore, a need has arisen for a rotor having a small inertia moment, which can be easily changed in the tube size and the number thereof and which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Further, the development of a rotor having a small moment of inertia leads to a reduction in the power of the motor, which must be pursued both to reduce the cost of the centrifuge and to reduce energy consumption. It has become. Another problem is that micro tubes have several capacities and sizes, and users need to prepare several rotors that match the tube size to be used, or prepare the rotor with the largest hole size. In addition, smaller tubes were used with an adapter for each tube as shown in FIG. 8B. Providing several types of tube-specific rotors is economically burdensome for the user, and the trouble of having to replace the rotor each time it is used and the troublesome mounting of the rotor if the trouble becomes frequent. For this reason, the rotor was forcibly fixed to the rotating shaft, and when the rotor was rotated in that state, the rotor would come off and an accident would occur.

Although the adapter for one tube is relatively inexpensive, it is a complicated operation since the adapter must be inserted and removed by the number of holes in the rotor each time the adapter is used. In addition, since there are many adapters, there are many chances of losing the adapter, and the user has to pay extra attention. An object of the present invention is to provide a rotor having a small inertia moment, which is easy to change the tube size and the number of tubes and is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and to improve the usability of an adapter used when changing the tube size.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the load generated by the centrifugal operation of the microtube is supported and held by the open end of the tube hole of the rotor. Yes, the lower part is not necessary to hold the microtube, and this part increases the moment of inertia,
Focusing on the fact that it is only necessary to remove this useless portion, a method was devised in which the space where the portion below the lip of the tube is inserted is cut off by cutting.

However, the lower side of the microtube is exposed as it is, and when the rotor rotates, the microtube causes air friction and the windage loss increases. Therefore, a windshield cover is required. We focused on the fact that the bottom part should be covered with a thin plate. To accommodate micro-tubes of different sizes, the trouble and danger of replacing the rotor by mounting a tube holding plate with tube holes on it without replacing the rotor, and the trouble of replacing the adapter for one tube. Resolved.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An angle rotor 100 according to the present invention has a rotor body 50, a rotor lid 60, and a bottom plate 7 as shown in FIG.
0. The rotor body 50 is made by cutting a metal block such as an aluminum alloy, and has a rotating shaft portion 52 having a center hole 51 for inserting a motor shaft on the bottom surface as shown in FIG. 2, and a peripheral surface of the rotating shaft portion 52. And a thin sliver-shaped tapered flange 53 integrally formed with the outer periphery of the rotor and a cover 54 surrounding the outer periphery of the rotor integrally extended from the protruding end of the tapered flange 53. The cover portion 54 forms a windshield, and is left uncut concentrically with the rotating shaft portion 52 with a thickness strong enough to withstand the centrifugal force. The extended end (lower end) of the cover portion 54 is engaged with the peripheral edge of the bottom plate 70 to form the outer peripheral surface of the rotor without smooth projections. At a right angle to the tapered surface of the tapered flange portion 53, a plurality of tube holes 55 having the same size have an inclination of about 45 ° with respect to the rotation axis,
It is formed penetrating along the circumferential direction.

The bent portion of the cover portion 54 near the extended end opposed to the tube hole 55 is used to increase the strength and to collect the liquid at the bottom of the rotor when the sample tube 80 is punctured so that the sample does not scatter. Create If the tube breaks, the sample will scatter inside the rotor. If there is no puddle, the leaked sample will be scattered in the rotor chamber,
It becomes steam, which is discharged out of the centrifuge together with the exhaust. It worsens the working environment of the user and also poses a danger of biohazard. The sump can prevent it.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rotor lid 60 is formed in a substantially thin disk shape, and a knob 61 is attached to the center thereof. The bottom plate 70 is made of a thin plate of metal or synthetic resin in a ring shape as shown in FIG. 1, and is attached to the bottom surface of the tapered flange 53 with bolts 71 so as to close the bottom surface of the rotor body 50. An outer peripheral edge of the bottom plate 70 is engaged with an extended end of the cover portion 54. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the bottom plate. In the example shown in the figure, the bottom plate 70 has a shape such that a circular dish is turned upside down, and a central hole 72 larger than the outer shape of the rotating shaft portion 52 is provided at the axis thereof.
A plurality of mounting holes 73 for mounting the bottom plate 70 with bolts are formed near the inner peripheral edge of the center hole 72.

A donut-shaped space 56 concentric with the rotary shaft 52 is formed by being surrounded by the tapered flange 53, the cover 54, and the bottom plate 70, and the tube hole 5 is formed in the space.
The sample tube 80 inserted in 5 is stored. When a microtube having an outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the tube hole 55 is used, as shown in FIG.
The tube holding plate 82 (FIGS. 5 and 6) is attached to the inner surface of the tube 3, and the sample tube is inserted into the tube hole 83 of the tube holding plate 82.

The tube holding plate 82 is made by pressing or pressing a metal plate such as aluminum or stainless steel, or by molding with a synthetic resin material, and is formed in a substantially circular Western dish shape. A center hole 84 is formed at the axis, and a ring-shaped tapered portion 85 is formed around the center hole. The tapered portion 85 has a tube hole 55 in the rotor body.
A plurality of tube holes 83 for inserting and holding the sample tube are formed along the circumferential direction.

The tube holding plate 82 is prepared in several types depending on the size of the sample tube. The user selects one of them and sets two small holes 86 in the tapered flange 5.
3 and is attached to the inner surface of the rotor (tapered flange 53) by a retaining ring 88. The center hole 84 is adapted to engage with an outer peripheral surface of a holding member 90 attached to the upper surface of the rotating shaft portion 52.

A center hole 51 is provided in the axis of the upper surface of the rotating shaft 52.
A rotor stop bolt 89 for attaching the rotor body 50 to the motor shaft inserted into the motor shaft is mounted. Around the head of the rotor fixing bolt 89, a cylindrical holding metal fitting 90 is provided.
Are mounted concentrically on the upper surface of the rotating shaft 52 with bolts 92. Pressing ring 8 on the screw on the outer peripheral surface of holding metal fitting 90
By screwing the screws on the inner peripheral surface of the tube 8, the tube holding plate 82 can be pressed and fixed to the upper surface of the rotating shaft 52. A ring-shaped groove is formed concentrically on the bottom surface of the holding ring 88, and an O-ring 93 is attached to the groove.

The rotor lid 60 is attached to the rotor main body 50 by screwing it to a screw on the inner peripheral surface of the holding member 90 as required. The lengths of the screw portions of the rotor fixing bolt 89 and the knob 61 of the rotor lid also have a check function when the attachment of the rotor body to the motor shaft is loose (see FIG. 7).

When the rotor body is correctly mounted on the motor shaft, a knob (mounting screw) on the rotor lid is used.
When 61 is screwed into the screw on the inner peripheral surface of the holding bracket 90,
The lower end of the knob has a small gap between it and the rotor stop bolt 89 or is in contact with the rotor stop bolt 89. However, if the user removes the rotor for cleaning or the like and reinstalls the rotor, and forgets to sufficiently tighten the rotor fixing bolt 89, the lower end of the knob 61 hits the rotor fixing bolt 89 and causes the rotor to fail. The lid 60 is not properly tightened. Since the rotor lid 60 is not properly tightened and the gap 94 is open, the user can know the tightening error of the rotor fixing bolt 89.

In the tube holding plate 82 shown in FIG. 5, a tube hole 83 having the same size is provided. As shown in FIG.
A plurality of sizes of tube holes (corresponding to the tube hole 55 of the rotor body and not exceeding the size) may be provided, such as the 75 milliliter tube hole 83b and the 0.4 milliliter tube hole 83c. In this case, the number of holes for each size is reduced, but it is not necessary to replace the tube holding plate every time even if the tube size changes, so it is convenient when the number of tubes used is large and each one is small. is there.

[0021]

[Effect of the invention] According to this invention, (1) a small moment of inertia while maintaining the strength of the high speed rotor to useless moiety Oh Tsu between the rotor of the hole and the hole is scraped off, and An angle rotor with small windage can be realized.

(2) Since it is manufactured by cutting without using an expensive mold such as press molding, the manufacturing cost is relatively low, and the flexibility to easily manufacture rotors of different sizes is provided. is there. (3) In the conventional angle rotor, when the size of the sample tube is changed, it has to be replaced with another rotor corresponding to the size of the sample tube. The tube holding plate can be easily manufactured by press forming or spatula forming, so the manufacturing cost is low and the user can hold several types of tubes. Even if the boards are arranged, the economic burden is insignificant.

(4) Another advantage of the present invention is that, when a conventional angle rotor is used, if there is a portion where no tube is inserted in the tube hole of the rotor, the hole becomes a whistle when the rotor is rotated at high speed. May produce an unpleasant whistling sound, such as drilling a hole at the bottom of the sample tube hole, or covering the rotor with a lid to prevent the opening from contacting the fast air flow due to high speed rotation, etc. Measures had to be taken.

According to the method of the present invention, even if there is a portion where no sample is inserted, no whistling sound is generated because there is no hole to be an air column. Therefore, the rotor can be used without using the lid of the rotor. It is important for the user to be able to use the rotor without tightening this lid,
It is a troublesome operation to tighten and remove the lid of the rotor each time to prevent noise,
For experimenters with a large number of samples studying A, RNA, etc., this hinders rapid experiments.

(5) When a plurality of tube holes of a plurality of sizes are provided in a single tube holding plate, it is not necessary to change the tube holding plate each time even if the tube size changes. This is convenient when the number of tubes to be used is large and small. (6) With the angle rotor of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 5-28755 filed on May 31, 1993, when the sample tube is heavy and the centrifugal load is large, the load must be increased unless the thickness of the tube holding plate 82 is increased. There was a danger that the board would break or bend without enduring. However, according to the present invention, the number of samples that can be centrifuged at one time is determined. However, since the portion of the rotor holding the tube has strength, a heavy sample can be centrifuged without any problem. Also, the tube holding plate for processing a small-sized tube is supported by the rotor on the lower side, so that a thin plate is sufficient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an embodiment of an angle rotor of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the rotor main body 50 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a bottom plate 60 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of the angle rotor of FIG. 1 when a tube holding plate 82 is added.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an embodiment of the tube holding plate of the present invention, wherein A is a plan view and B is a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another embodiment of the tube holding plate of the present invention, wherein A is a plan view and B is a cross-sectional view.

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the angle rotor of the angle rotor of FIG. 1 showing a state in which the rotor lid is not tightened due to improper attachment of the rotor body to the motor shaft.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an angle rotor made by a conventional cutting process.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of an angle rotor made by conventional press molding.

Claims (5)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] And 1. A rotor body, the rotor cover, a centrifuge angle rotor comprising more a bottom plate, wherein the rotor body has a rotational shaft portion having a central hole for the motor shaft inserted into the bottom surface, the Its rotation on the circumference of the rotating shaft
A taper with an inclination of approximately 45 ° to the axis
A tapered flange portion bowl-shaped which projects towards the tapered
At the tip of the part, the outer part is almost perpendicular to the tapered part.
, And its tip is arc-shaped inward at a right angle.
A bent portion has a cover portion surrounding the outer periphery of the rotor, and a plurality of tube holes having the same size are arranged along the circumferential direction at a right angle to the tapered surface of the tapered portion so as to penetrate therethrough.
And the tube hole forming position on the outer surface of the tapered portion and the
The distance between the inner surface of the tip of the cover and the inner surface of the
The tip of the inserted sample tube is the tip of the cover.
A metal body which is chosen so as not to be in contact with parts, the bottom plate so as to close the bottom side of the rotor body, prior to
The outer peripheral portion is attached to the tip of the cover portion and the tapered portion is provided.
It is a ring-shaped thin plate whose inner peripheral portion is attached to the flange portion , and the rotor lid has an outer peripheral portion at a protruding end of the tapered portion,
And the outer periphery of a knob screwed to the rotating shaft portion.
An inner peripheral portion is a ring-shaped thin plate to which each is attached, and is surrounded by the tapered flange portion, the cover portion, and the bottom plate, and a donut-shaped space concentric with the rotation shaft portion is formed. An angle rotor for a centrifuge, wherein a sample tube inserted into a tube hole is housed. 2. A tube holding plate according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of tube holes respectively facing said plurality of tube holes of said tapered flange portion are formed along a circumferential direction. Is provided on the inner surface of the tapered flange. 3. The angle rotor for a centrifuge according to claim 1, wherein the rotor main body is mounted on a motor shaft inserted into the center hole at an axis of an upper surface of the rotating shaft portion. A bolt is mounted, and a cylindrical holding member is mounted concentrically on the upper surface of the rotating shaft portion around the head of the rotor fixing bolt. The knob of the rotor lid is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the holding member. When the rotor body is normally attached to the motor shaft by the rotor fixing bolt, the rotor lid attached to the rotor body via the holding bracket has an outer periphery thereof. The bottom surface of the knob is configured to be in contact with or close to the top surface of the rotor locking bolt at the same time that the portion engages with the protruding end of the tapered flange portion. And said that you are. 4. A tube holding plate which can be attached to and detached from an inner surface of an angle rotor body of a centrifuge, is formed in a thin slash shape, and inserts and holds a sample tube in a tapered peripheral portion thereof. Are equal,
Corresponds to the tube hole in the angle rotor body and its size
A tube holding plate, wherein a plurality of smaller holes are formed along a circumferential direction. 5. A tube holding plate which can be attached to and detached from an inner surface of an angle rotor main body of a centrifuge, is formed in a thin horn shape, and inserts and holds a sample tube in a tapered peripheral portion thereof. Saga multiple types
Corresponding to the tube hole of the angle rotor body,
A tube holding plate, wherein a plurality of holes not exceeding the size are formed along a circumferential direction.